


Funeral Suit

by Kuuttituutti



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Blindness, Comfort, Crying, Domestic, Fluff, Gen, Guilt, Pre-Canon, Tailoring, Terminal Illnesses, Wonderland
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-05-27 08:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15020228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuuttituutti/pseuds/Kuuttituutti
Summary: Time and time again Edward and  Lydia have heard the phrase " There is nothing we can do". And Keats has too. Not that many clerics, healers, helpers bothered to make sure that their patient wouldn't hear as they gave their death sentance.





	1. Eye of the Needle

**Author's Note:**

> This fandom need more Edward and Lydia content.

Lydia wished she could use the sewing machine. The constant rumble of the machine would have been just what she needed and she would’ve gotten things done much more quicker. She needed something to drown her thoughts in. Lydia was desperate for something new to play on repeat in her head. Something better than “There is nothing we can do”.

But she didn’t want to wake him up. A sleepless night was the last thing he needed now. So instead, Lydia had put all of her focus into making the stitches as even and as beautiful as she could. She tried to hum a little. It helped a bit and her stitching continued. It needed to be perfect. Lydia was an accomplished tailor and her knowledge on fashion was impressive. And she was well aware of that fact. It was one of the ways she had been able to keep herself and her brothers alive. “Even when you are struggling to have enough food for next day, you can still try to look good”, Edward was always saying. 

Edward had had a job at the local theatre, working with makeup and lights, but they had found someone more talented. And it was better when at least one of them was able to be at home all the time. When Lydia was able to stay at home, Edward’s days had usually consisted of running around town, looking for clerics and healers that would be willing to help them. Many of them had been kind-hearted folk, some had sold him some herbs and some had even paid a visit to try and see what was going on. But too many refused to take Edward’s money. The two of them were not really the most liked elves in town, and many had their fair share of suspicions on where the elf had gotten the money. Many people considered it too late for the twins to start acting all humble and good-willed now. 

Lydia pulled the needle through the fabric one more time, before tying the thread with a secure knot behind the lace. She bit sharply on the thread, cutting it from the base. Lydia stood up and looked at the suit, posing in front of the mirror, holding it to her chest. It was a bit slimmer than her own silhouette, and a bit too short as well. Which meant it would be perfect for Keats. She took in a shaky breath. The vest looked beautiful. It was one of Edward’s older ones that Lydia had just sewn to fit Keats. She felt kind of bad for reusing old clothing, but it had to do. And Edward hadn’t been wearing the vest for years, he wouldn’t mind. The deep blue fabric felt silky under Lydia’s fingers as she traced around the suit, making sure the seams were secure. She had sewn beautiful strips of lace around the collar of the vest and at the ends of the sleeves. Silvery buttons went down in the middle. With pride in her eyes, she traced over the snake she had embroidered on the fabric. It slithered between the buttons, its head coming to rest on the shoulder. She still wanted to work on the details of the snake, but other than that she considered the vest ready. 

A small knock on the door woke Lydia up from her daze. Without waiting for an answer, Edward stepped in. He was wearing rugged, grey sweater, he had not even bother to put any makeup on. But it was late; it was not like he had the most interesting nightlife. Actually he shouldn’t have any nightlife at all.  
“ What are you doing here? You should be watching over Keats” Lydia almost hissed. She didn’t want her work to be interrupted like this.  
“ He is sleeping already Lydia. The real question is, why are you still up at this hour?“ Lydia could hear the tiredness in her brother’s raspy voice. She sat back down at her desk, reaching for the needles and the light blue thread. Blue details would work perfectly on the snake.  
“ As you can see, I’m trying to work” Lydia murmured, holding the needle between her teeth. 

“What are you working on? “ Edward asked quietly, making it seem like he didn’t actually care for an answer as he pinched the sweaters sleeve between his slender fingers.  
“ A surprise for Keats. Remember when he saw that one suit I made for that tiefling last week? I’m making something similar for him” Lydia explained, holding her breath as the thread went through the eye of the needle.  
Edward leaned on the doorframe and just watched quietly as his sister started to carefully pierce the indigo fabric. Lydia could feel her brother’s stare on her back. It was irritating, to say the least. 

“ Did you have something important to say? If not, can you please go watch over Keats? ” Lydia sighed, feeling her ears twitching under her brother’s attention. 

“Why bother?” the elf barely whispered, turning his gaze to the side, leaning his forehead to the cool door frame. The needle was halfway through the fabric when Lydia froze. 

“What did you say?“ Lydia asked she turned sharply in her chair to face her brother. He didn’t move, didn’t answer. Just stared blankly at the floor.  
“Edward, say that again! “ Lydia hissed sharply.  
“I said why bother “ Edward lazily murmured to the wall. Lydia turned back to her work, now making stitches in a much faster pace.  
“Lydia you heard what that cleric said” Edward said raising his voice a bit. Lydia just concentrated on the stiches. She could feel small tears starting to gather on the corners of her eyes. The constant repeating of the clerics words started to play in her head once again.Lydia quickly sniffed and wiped the corner of her cheek. It didn’t really help as the tears blurred her vision more. 

“He is dying Lydia!” 

A jolt of pain travelled fast through Lydia as she pierced her finger with the needle. Small red droplets of blood started to pool on her finger and when they weight of the drop would grow too heavy, it would drop to the fabric, coloring the blue scale on the snake’s head bright red. Couple more drops fell, before Lydia’s brain finally decided to register what was going on. She put the needle down and moved the vest away, making room in the table, so she could bury her face to her hands without worrying about getting tear stains on to the suit. She tried to muffle her sobs by gently biting down to her hand, an old habit. Lydia could hear her brothers footsteps come closer and closer, before she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. 

“That’s just the facts…” Edward whispered. When Lydia didn’t shoo her away in her usual fashion, he continued:  
“ So, why are you wasting your time? You… You need some sleep too. And we will need money for the funeral and all… I’ll try to get some money tomorrow but...” Edward said and lazily wrapped his arms around his sisters shoulders. Lydia squirmed from her brother’s grip, staring at him through misty eyes. 

“ How can you say that?” she choked up, before pushing Edward away.  
“ You talk he is already dead! We still have a chance, and maybe this suit will give him the power to fight on and…”  
“ Lydia! Are you even hearing what you are saying?! A fucking suit is not going to magically cure him! Fucking nothing is!” Edward yelled, grabbing Lydia by the shoulders as she was trying to stand up.  
“ Keep your voice down or.. “ Lydia was about to ask her brother to shut up but stopped when she noticed the tears streaming down his brother’s face.  
“ I’ve tried fucking everything…. Nobody is helping us anymore…I’m… I’m so sorry Lydia!” Edward sobbed, his grip on Lydia shoulders tightening.  
“ What?” Lydia whispered, giving Edward a moment to breath. 

“ There has been rumors going on… They think we bring bad luck or don’t pay or other shit like that. You don’t know how much I had to pay for that cleric today” Edward’s knees gave out and he pretty much collapsed on top of his sister. Lydia instinctively wrapped her arm around the trembling elf.  
“ The fucking cleric was right. We can’t do anything. We have to watch our brother die and just…” Edward sobbed to his sister’s shoulder. Lydia tried her best to get Edward to calm down, gently petting his matted hair he hadn’t bothered to wash for days. 

For a good minute or two the two elves just sobbed in each other's embrace. They both knew that this day would come, sooner or later, not just this fast.  
Their parents had pretty much just shoved Keats into their care without explaining the situation at all. It had always been like that. Even when they were little Keats could always be found in the care of his older siblings, rather than his so called “loving parents”. When Edward had tried to get in contact with them again, they had just told him that he was the one that had wanted a little brother. He decided not to call them again. 

As the elves breaths started to get more even and calm, Lydia tried to talk again.  
“ Edward, I’m proud of you. You’ve done everything you could. Don’t feel guilty. But I don’t think we should give up yet” Edward heard Lydia whisper. He eased his grip and wiped his face with the back of his hand.  
“ Edward. I know this might not cure Keats, but it could make him happy. So let me do this” Lydia said, hugging her brother once more.  
“ Okay…” Edward whimpered quietly.  
“ Go to sleep. I’ll finish this tomorrow. I can go watch over Keats. Okay? “ She proposed smiling weakly. Edward nodded and started to walk towards his room, with wobbly legs.

Lydia took in a deep, calming breath and looked herself in the mirror. Tear stains covered her cheeks and a small amount of blood was smeared on her forehead from the cut in her finger. Lydia quickly wiped her face, before carefully folding the suit away. 

Keats coughed. Loud and violently. He had been holding the coughs inside for so long. He hated hearing his siblings argue, but he also wanted to at least hear what they were arguing about.

It was not like Keats had not heard this stuff before. This was not the first cleric, healer, helper who had not bothered to make sure that their patient didn’t hear as they gave their death sentence. He had accepted the fact that he was going to die long ago. Keats could only hope that his siblings would be okay after his death. But judging by their reactions when he was still alive left him worried. 

He could still hear Edward crying in the room next to him as Lydia stormed to the room with a glass of water in her hand.  
“ Did we wake you up? I’m sorry, I’m sure Edward didn’t mean to. Are you okay Keats?” Lydia asked with a worried smile. Keats nodded and took the glass from her hands. Lydia pet his head as he tried to fall asleep again. 

“Is Edward going to be okay?” Keats asked weakly as he felt Lydia casting a sleeping spell on him. 

“We are all going to be okay. Everything will seem better in the morning. You’ll see. Goodnight Keats” Lydia smiled and planted a small kiss on his brother’s forehead. The brother smiled and weakly murmured to his pillow:  
“ Good night Lydia”


	2. Blinding light

_“A great healer makes sure to do their best in every situation. But sometimes they are too late or too inexperienced. In these situations a weak mind would easily start to think of the possibility to use their power to bring their loved one back. This act called necromancy, is however never an option in a path of a honorable healer. If someone howev-”_

Edward slammed the book close. Another day wasted in reading a book that just repeated the same things he had read countless times before. He stood up and stretched his back long and good. Sitting in a same place for hours didn’t do good for his body. When Lydia would get home he could probably go for a walk or jog. Something to make up for staying in the same place for the whole day.

Keats was still napping quietly with a small smile on his face. Sometimes he maybe mumbled something to his pillow, but other than that, he stayed quiet. It seemed that his cough from two days ago had eased,his breathing seemed more calmer now. That had brought a small glimmer of hope to the twins’s life. Keats was nowhere near healthy, but there was a chance of him getting better.

Edward bowed down to grab the book from the floor, before walking out of the room, leaving the door open, just in case. The pile of books Edward had read about healing magic, herbs and old saints was starting to look quite impressive on their windowsill. At least it had not been for nothing. One small notebook full of old recipes had offered a help to Keats’s cough, or Edward at least hoped it had. I mean, it had been Edward who had collected those red clovers and carefully dried them up, before making tea of them for Keats. Edward carefully balanced the book “ The way of Honorable Healer” on top of the other read ones, before starting to eye for his next reading experience.

On the pile of unread books there was always the one that would haunt him. He had borrowed it just as a joke, since he thought it was funny that a book about bringing someone back to life had been in the same section as the books which primary function was to teach how to keep things alive and healthy. But after reading through couple of books Edward had noticed that at least half of them would end in a some kind of warning about not giving power to even the thought of necromancy, and how if you failed, you would just have to accept the fact of death, not try to reverse it.

“Well, I think I have earned this”, Edward laughed at himself as he grabbed the book with the black cover. He had studied enough of actual knowledge, reading a bit about some stupid idiots who had actually tried to bring dead back alive wouldn’t hurt. An empty glass had been left to the living room table with three dirty plates. Edward quickly gathered the plates, muttering something about how Lydia could wash her own dishes, before balancing to the kitchen, plates on the other and the book on the other hand. He dumped the plates to the sink and filled the glass with water. His ear flinched as he heard Keats murmur something.

“ Edward?”, Keats’s voice was hoarse, but there was a pinch of urgency in it.

“Coming!” Edward yelled, leaving the plates to soak on the sink. It only took Edward a couple of steps to cross their small living room before he was back at Keats’s door.

“Is everything okay bro?” Edward smiled, peeking his head to the room. Keats was sitting on his bed, staring blankly in front of him, holding the edge of blanket knuckles white. His ears were down and his tail stayed still. Edward placed the book by his feet and sat down to the edge of the bed, offering the glass to Keats.

“Keats? Did you have a bad dream?” he placed his hand on the shoulder of his brother, who flinched from the sudden touch. Keats rubbed his eyes.

“ How long did I sleep? Is it night already? Can you put the lights on Edward please?” Keats asked, grabbing Edward’s wrist. The curtains were open. Edward had forgotten to turn off the night lamp on the table. Even with that, the door to living room was open with more than enough light pouring in.

“Keats? Is this a prank? This isn’t funny” the panicked hiss escaped Edward’s lips as Keats turned his face. A tear had left a track down his cheek, as his eyes stared just a bit too left, unable to focus on the panic in his brothers eyes. Edward felt Keats’s nails dig deeper in to his wrist.

“Edward why is it dark? Turn the lights on please! I’m not playing around why can’t I see!? Why aren’t you letting me see!”

***

“How long would it take to get it done?” A bubbly dwarf woman wondered, smiling as Lydia looked over the summer dress.

“Well, depends on the complexity of the design. Like are you okay with just a the outlines of a bird or do you want me to stitch each feather in full detail?” Lydia asked. “A more complex design like this would add like 30 gold to price” she explained as she showed Keats’s vest. Lydia had taken it to work, in hopes of working on the stitching on her breaks.

“Hmm… is there a middle ground? Like maybe outlines and some small details, like the eyes and the beak? Other than that, you can keep it simple!” the woman smiled. Lydia nodded approvingly.

“ Okay! Would you be okay with leaving your stone’s code here” Lydia offered the dwarf a piece of paper and a ballpoint pen.

“I’ll call you when it’s ready. If everything goes well, I should have that ready for Friday. Would that be okay?” “Yes, that’s a perfect timing!” she said, quickly scribbling down her stone of farspeech’s code.

“That’s a really beautiful design though. I hope I could have such steady hands!” the customer laughed. Lydia blushed proudly, holding the vest to her eye level, once again admiring her work.

“Thank you so much! It’s going to be gift for my brother. I still have a lot to impr..” Lydia felt her own stone vibrating in the pocket of her suit. Sending a quick curse to the one who had taken away her moment in the spotlight, she excused herself to the back room with a cheesy smile, letting her co-worker take care of the customers.

“Edward what is it? You know i’m trying to keep us alive?” Lydia growled to the stone.

“Lydia you need to come home. Immediately!”

“What why? What’s wrong?” In the background Lydia could hear her little brother cry out for Edward.

“Lydia it’s bad, just please! I think he is blind or something! He can’t see anything and is unable to focus his eyes and I don’t know what to do!” Edward yelled in pure panic.

Lydia leaned against the wall, head spinning. Her breathing became hard as she tried to make sense of the situation. Why hadn’t nobody told them? If there was something wrong with his eyes, surely someone would have noticed it! Why Lydia had convinced herself that his brother’s complaints about his foggy vision was normal? Gods, she had just joked about Keats getting glasses. She had even asked what color he would like them to be. Why hadn’t she taken this seriously?

“Lydia!” Edward’s yell snapped Lydia out of her thoughts. She quickly gathered herself and grabbed her coat and wallet from the hanger.

“I’m on my way! Stay with Keats!” Lydia yelled as she ran across the store.

“Where are you going Lydia? Your shift is not over yet” Lydia’s coworker grabbed her wrist as she was about to storm of to the street.

“ I need to go! It’s my brother he is sick and I need to be there okay!? I’ll make this up to you, I promise just please let me go!” Lydia still tried to keep herself together, but was not doing that great of a job at it as her voice cracked. The dwarf woman who was still trying to haggle about the price of her summer dress looked disturbed as Lydia tried to squirm from the human’s grasp, tears welling in her eyes.

“Lydia can we help with something? Can you call someon…”

“ Please! I’ll explain later I just have to go!” she screamed and finally yanked her wrist free, leaving her co-workers and their current customers in the store in confusion. She would have a hell of a time explaining this tomorrow. But that was the least of her worries now. Her lungs hurt and she could taste blood in her mouth but she didn’t care. Passerbys turned in to faceless silhouettes, and the bright lights became mere smears of color in the puddles.

***

The neighbours dog barked as Lydia ran past their door, the heels clicking on the stairs as he climbed up their apartment building. The final few steps were maybe the hardest she had took in her life to this point. As she slumped against their door, panting heavily. Lydia’s legs trembled under her as her brain was finally registering the stress she had just put her body under. Drops of something that was either tears, sweat or rain dripped down her nose as she leaned her head against the cold door. The keys jingled in her hand as she collected her courage to actually open the door. She was afraid. She couldn’t hear anything from behind the door. Maybe it was the blood gushing in her ears, her way of concentrating on every ragged breath she took in. The annoying jingle of the metal keys against each other. At the same time there was too much noise and not enough. It hurt her ears.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Edward totally heard her by now and she was just delay the inevitable. She should stay strong for them. Lydia sniffed and combed the hair from her eyes, turned the key and opened the creaking door.

Lydia had not been prepared for silence. She was so ready to hear crying or screaming but no. Lydia quickly kicked off her shoes and hanged her soaked jacket on the coat rack, raindrops falling to their carpet. She was afraid to breath. Fearing that even the smallest of sounds would break the silence and everything would blow up. But she didn’t have to fear for long.

“Keats, I think Lydia is home”

They view that was waiting for her was miserable. Edward had wrapped himself and his brother in a fluffy blanket as they sat on his bed. Edward was holding Keats tightly in his embrace, as he quietly sobbed in to his sweater. All the effort Edward had put on to make himself look pretty in this morning was now dripping down his face, staining his shirt.

“Lydia?” Keats’s ear twitched in the direction he heard Lydia’s choked breaths. She snapped off from her daze and walked closer. For a second Keats let go of Edward, reaching his hands out towards her. Two clouded eyes stared at her, helpless. And Lydia wanted to help. But how? They had not been able to help him before, and things had only gone worse.

“I’m so sorry!” Lydia howled as she hugged her little brother.

Apologies turned in to incoherent sobs and finally sobs turned to quiet sniffs.

There were no more tears left. Just an empty feeling when Edward finally stood up from the bed. He reached for the book on the floor and walked away. This was not Lydia’s fault, even less of Keats’s. Hearing them tell each other how sorry they were just made him sick. Gods, he could name at least ten beings that were more to blame than them. Edward slammed the book to his desk and rubbed the last tears from his eyes. He was going to make the everything okay. If he was not able to find a cure, he would buy them more time. And if that would not help he would… he was ready to...

Edward balanced his glasses on top of his nose and took a shaky breath. On the first page there was a warning, written in clear and red font:

_“Non of the methods described in this book should never be tried in any circumstances. These are simply retellings of these horrible crimes that have been committed against the laws of life and death. The publisher does not take any responsibility if someone ends up trying these horrifying acts. Those with weak minds who fall under the thrall of necromancy are soulless, horrible creatures. Make sure, dear reader that you don’t turn in to one of these”_

Edward stared at skull painted on the page with black ink. “Bad luck book” Edward calmly breathed as he tore the page slowly away from the book. “I’m not soulless.”


	3. Permission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the fluffiest chapter? In the whole fic? Enjoy while you can.

Lydia’s hands curled up to fists as she was sat down with the other employees of the shop in the breakroom. The shop had not even opened yet, so everyone was able to take part in this morning meeting. Strong scent of coffee tickled her nose as more and more of the employees started to sit down with their cups full of tea or coffee. Lydia herself had a red mug in front of her. She didn’t even like coffee, but it had felt like a correct thing to do. 

A tiefling woman, who usually worked in the same shift as Lydia sat down next to her. In her jacket was written “Alma” in beautiful, pink stichting. She smiled softly and tried to reach out to hold her hand. Lydia didn’t pull her hand away, letting her fingers get linked with a tiefling’s light green ones. But her eyes stayed on the mug, watching as the milk swirled around, slowly dissolving. 

Everyone had learned about the yesterday’s happening and was waiting for an explanation. Especially since few customers had been scared by the little scene she had created. Lydia felt the shame as a blush on the tip of her ears that hung low. Lydia was still tense, but the warmth of the other’s hand did bring some comfort. She was going to need it. 

“So, Lydia? How are you doing today?” A halfling man asked. During the years of working in his shop, Lydia had gotten used to his boss’s voice. It still made her flinch, feeling his eyes on her. She quickly looked his boss in the eyes, even if every nerve in her brain told her to keep looking at her coffee. 

“I’m doing fine sir. I’m extremely sorry about the scene I caused yesterday” Lydia managed to keep her voice professional and steady. For the moment. 

“Can you explain what exactly happened? Is there something we can do to help?” She could now feel her coworker’s thumb starting to draw slow, calming circles on her palm. Lydia bit her lip, trying to come up with a way to explain the situation.  
“Lydia we are worried about you”, Alma said. Couple other encouraging and caring comments rang in her ears. The words got stuck in her throat,

“As.. as many of you know, my brother is… is very ill. We don’t know what it is but yesterday...umh...” she could feel her hands trembling as her grip on Alma’s hand grew stronger. 

“It’s okay take your time”, someone said. Lydia didn’t want to take her time. She wanted this to be over so she could walk home and explain to Keats that they would live on oatmeal for the next couple of days. So that she could ask Edward to try finding a job once more. So she could starting to think about what she should do next. 

“His illness has gone worse. Yesterday my other brother, Edward, called me in the middle of my shift and I… I just had to get home. My brother was there taking care of him of course, but he was panicking and…” Lydia managed to sob out, a heavy tear rolling down her cheek. She could feel everyone’s gaze on her.  
“ And Thomas tried to stop me but… I didn’t explain the situation and stormed off. I’m sorry I screamed at you”, Lydia looked up to a gruff looking man sitting beside her. He just offered a warm smile which Lydia tried to interpret as an acceptance of an apology, but she couldn’t be sure. 

“And I guess that is that “, Lydia lowered her eyes back to the coffee cup. “I understand you can’t have an employee, who… who can’t do her job.”

For a first time in like a week, Lydia heard laughter. Yes it was a bit forced, but still. She let her grip loosen a bit and looked at her boss at end of the table. The hafling man was trying to take a sip of his tea, but a soft chuckle made it all the more difficult. 

“ Lydia, I’m not going to fire you over that. I think what you should do on the other hand is take a break. Come back when things get better, okay? We will work things out” he explained, his smile growing as Lydia’s ears rose in surprise. 

“And I’ll make sure that no-one touches your sewing machine or it’s settings”, Alma patted Lydia on her shoulder. The elf’s eyes were still glued on her boss. It was not a big deal for him. 

“When things get better?” she muttered to herself. They were not going to. Lydia caught herself in the middle of that thought. When had she accepted that? Just a week ago she had comforted her brother about how they still had hope. Edward’s studies in healing were supposed to be the hope. What now? What the fuck was she supposed to cling on to now? She dug her nails in Alma’s palm and forced a smile. 

“Thank you mister Bluefield. I promise to come back as soon as I’m able!”

Her boss had given her permission to head to home immediately, but Lydia still wanted to stay for a while. She didn’t trust herself to see customers today, but she still wanted to do something small. 

“Alma, do you think Bluefield will be mad if I loan some supplies? I could at least work on embroidery commissions…”, Lydia muttered, while already stuffing yarn to her handbag. Alma nodded and offered the golden thread she knew Lydia used to sew her name to her works. 

“As long as you keep your promise and actually take care of yourself. You should not be forcing yourself to work in that condition. And give yourself time too”, Alma said and put the needle down to the needle pillow Lydia had made her as company’s secret fantasy Santa. It was made to look like a strawberry. Lydia herself had gotten a sweater made by Thomas. She figured that the sweater would have more use nowadays, now that she would be pretty much homebound. 

“I promise I will. But first and foremost I need to take care of Keats” Lydia sighed, and pushed the needles in her own needle pillow so deep that they would not fall out.  
“I know how it feels. But I’m sure boss won’t be mad, if you take a longer break. I took almost two months off last year when my mother passed, and the only thing that happened, was that all the coffee I had brought here had disappeared”, Alma laughed, raising her hand to cover her lips. “  
But like, when that happened, I really did need that break. And I needed to take care of myself too”, she put her glasses down and looked at Lydia. The elf didn’t meet her gaze 

Alma stood up and spread her arms. Lydia laughed weakly,hesitated for a moment, but in the end slumped forward, wrapping her arms around the plump tiefling. The warmth of her hug never stopped surprising her. It was probably a tiefling thing. Alma let Lydia rest her head on her shoulder, petting her hair gently. 

“Remember, that you can always call me, right? And if you need any help, and I mean, any help, please call. And if you need money-”

“No, Alma. I appreciate the offer but… I’m going to be okay. We are going to be okay...”, Lydia murmured and let go of the hug. She didn’t dare to admit to herself that the offer of help was something, that nearly made her cry. She wanted to do this on her own. She and Edward would survive this. Alma still kept her plump hands on Lydia’s slender shoulders. 

“You worry me Lydia. I just… I just want you to be okay.Okay?” Alma said, offering Lydia a warm smile. The elf returned the smile, but weakly. 

“Thank you. I promise I will call you”, Lydia breathed out, swirling a curl with his finger.  
Alma nodded with a happy smile, and reached for Lydia’s bag, where she had put Keats’s suit and the summer dress she had promised to do. 

“Well. I guess I’ll see you. Remember, don’t be afraid to call me. Unless you need someone to walk you home?”

The offer didn’t seem so bad. 

-

Edward stirred the stew on the stove that slowly warmed up, humming to himself. Sometimes he would tap his feet along to his made up rhythm. Important thing was too keep making some noise.  
He had thrown some old newspapers to the fire, after he had cut out the job application pages from them. And some obituary notices, but those were merely for future reference. And the job applications were just a backup plan. If everything would go according to plan, there would be no need for either of those. 

The firewood was probably the only thing that the twins didn’t have a shortage of. And in the end, they could always start burning their old sketches. Or Keats’s table. Edward brushed off the thought. Everything was going to be okay. Keats would still need his table to draw out all his ideas, and chopping off the legs of his bed would not do anything good either. He had a solution. Now, he only needed to concentrate on not burning their lunch. 

Edward reached for the pepper mix on the counter. It was running low. Just one more item on their evergrowing shopping list. After adding the black powder and stirring the mixture for a while, he took a small test taste. It was not as good as mom had made. Edward took a closer look at the recipe, trying to see if he had missed something important. 

Why had he even tried to follow her recipe, he hated mom’s cookings? The old hag had never done anything truly tasty, but still somehow acted how she was the best cook in the land. He couldn’t really remember why he had even kept the recipe. Maybe it had come with one the books Keats had brought with him, when mom and dad dropped him off and never came to pick up? He sighed and stirred the stew again. 

The yellow piece of paper with elvish text on it looked at him mockingly. He had not done this right either. How did he think his plan would work in any shape or form, if even following orders from a piece of paper was so hard?

Edward’s ears started to flick, earrings ringing against the others. He wrapped his fingers around the paper, and carefully ripped it in to four pieces and fed it to the fire. Just in time for him to hear Lydia’s keys rattling on their door’s lock. 

“ Hello Lydia! Did you get fired? Is this the last meal we are gonna eat this week?” Edward yelled from the kitchen with a slightly mocking tone. He trusted Lydia would not get mad. He could hear Lydia talk to someone on the hallway, before she closed the door behind her. No answer yet. Edward listened carefully as Lydia took off her jacket and shoes. The heels clicked when they hit the bottom of their closet. Lydia was not intending on going out anytime soon. 

“Hi Ed!”, Lydia said and walked to kitchen, dragging the bag full of sewing supplies and a small shopping bag behind her. Edward’s curiosity was instantly woken up by the shopping bag. He could feel his tail starting to slowly lash around. Lydia left the plastic bag full of groceries on the kitchen table, and stepped through the living room towards her study. As soon as Lydia’s back was turned, Edward made sure that the stew was not going to overcook, and almost dove his head to the bag. 

“Hey Lydia! Where the hell did you get money for all of this? Did you like, rob the your boss?” Edward yelled, looking through the groceries. There were expensive looking fruits, flour and milk, and even chocolate. While Edward was too busy trying count in his head how much he should ask from his books so they could pay the rent next month and hopefully not starve, Lydia had come back. She was wearing a loose, black top and jeans, a combination he would never leave the house in.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t pay for these”, Lydia chuckled and sat down on the old green sofa. She pulled the grey blanket from a pile next to her, only in the last minute see a grey tail tuft on under the blankets. 

“Oh hi Keats. Did you plan on eavesdropping us?” Lydia smiled, when Keats’ messy head raised from the pile of blankets. Lydia reached to ruffle her brother’s hair and ton sweep some strands of hair from his face. Under, two foggy, blank eyes started back, but only kind of. 

“Edward sings while he cooks, I just came to listen!” Keats laughed and took a hold of Lydia’s hand. Gods it felt good to see Keats smile again. And laughing. Lydia couldn’t help but let out a happy, but a small laugh. 

“Well yeah, soon I’m going to start singing opera on the street. Care to explain did you like, steal this stuff? “ Edward leaned on the sofa, ladle still in hand. Lydia shoot him gentle smile. 

“You remember Alma from work? Well I guess I looked so miserable today that she took pity on me… She said she would walk me home, but didn’t mention that the walk would also include a shopping trip. She payed and I didn’t dare to say no”, Lydia explained.

Edward looked at the bag again. If they would be resourceful, this could last for a while.  
“Talking about food, is dinner ready soon?”, Keats asked, still holding Lydia’s hand. 

Edward rushed to the stove, making sure his cookings had not been burned.  
“ But yeah. Mister Bluefield said that I can come back to work when I want. But for now, I get to stay at home with you two”, Lydia smiled, still holding Keats’s hand, as he helped him to the table. His legs looked so weak. And even if there was a smile on his face, his tail still just dragged behind him, a mark sick and tired elf kid. 

Edward set down the stew and started to pour it on to everyone’s plates. The smell was actually pretty pleasant. Keats waited until the sloshing of the stew had stopped, knowing that there was no more danger of him getting his hands burned. His still shivering hands started to pat around around the plate, until his fingers landed on a spoon. Despite losing his sight, he still wanted to show that he could eat himself. 

"Ed, you have improved a lot! This is super good!", Keats smiled and shoved more of the stew in to his mouth. Edward kind of felt bad for not making a better breakfast for him. He accepted the compliments and started to ask Keats about he suspected would happen in the next chapter of a book, he had been reading with, or I guess for Keats. Between the theories and laughs, Edward suddenly looked at Lydia. 

“ By the way, do you have plans for this evening Lyds?”, Edward asked, adding some more salt to his stew. It was not that bad. 

“No, I was planning on uhm… working on a project? But I mean, I am not planning on leaving the house. You?”, Lydia answered, raising a curious eyebrow. Edward swirled his spoon for a while. 

“I’m just going for a jog, you know...maybe go and try finding a job or something”, he sighed. Lydia put her spoon down. Edward couldn't really make sense of her expression, the curls covering her other eye again. 

“ Keep you stone of farspeech near you and stay safe. But I mean, “walks” are supposed o be good for you. And me and Keats maybe read ahead on that book, if you take long. It’s your own fault, if we manage to spoil you”, Lydia said. Edward didn't really get no confirmation on what his sister thought about his plans, but at least he had gotten the permission.


End file.
